Zapdos (BW2 Revamp)

<p>Thanks to its unique typing, good overall stats, and interesting movepool, Zapdos manages to hold a definite niche in OU. It is one of the few Pokemon capable of handling Sheer Force Landorus, countering it if Stealth Rock is off the field. In addition, Zapdos has Roost to take repeated assaults, and can take on other threatening special sweepers, such as Volcarona (provided it is raining) and Tornadus. Furthermore, the combination of Zapdos's Electric typing, good coverage, Roost, and useful resistances allow it to threaten the ubiquitous rain offense teams and put big pressure on them. However, Zapdos has many flaws that prevent it from being a prevalent threat in OU. Offensively, Zapdos is mostly outclassed by Thundurus-T, which has slightly higher Speed, higher Special Attack, a better ability, and access to Nasty Plot. Zapdos is an appropriate offensive choice only if you take advantage of its better bulk and access to Heat Wave and Roost. Defensively, Zapdos's biggest flaw is its Stealth Rock weakness, which hampers its overall performance and makes it very team-reliant. Finally, even though Zapdos has great all-around stats, its special bulk is somewhat lacking in comparison to OU's premier special walls, such as Celebi, Jirachi, and Heatran.</p>

<p>Zapdos is a decent special wall that deals with a few key threats that many teams struggle against, namely Sheer Force Landorus and Tornadus. Thanks to its wide coverage and favorable match-up against most Pokemon found on rain teams, Zapdos is also a good anti-rain Pokemon. A STAB move is essential on Zapdos, taking advantage of Electric's great neutral coverage and super effective hits against the plethora of Water-type Pokemon found in OU, and there are two options. Thunderbolt is strong and reliable, while Volt Switch enables Zapdos to control the pace of the game and makes it a better pivot. Roost keeps Zapdos healthy throughout the game, helps alleviate its Stealth Rock weakness, and lets Zapdos PP stall some dangerous moves when combined with Pressure. Heat Wave lets Zapdos dent or OHKO the various Steel-types that it checks, such as Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Magnezone. Heat Wave also OHKOes Breloom, a Pokemon that Zapdos checks very well. Hidden Power Ice deals with Landorus and Dragon-types and gives Zapdos great neutral coverage when combined with its Electric STAB. On the other hand, Toxic cripples many common switch-ins to Zapdos, namely Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The Speed EVs allow Zapdos to outspeed Adamant Breloom in order to OHKO it with Heat Wave before it has a chance to act. Roar is an option on Zapdos that makes it a pretty good check to boosting special attackers such as SubCM Jirachi, CM Latias, and any Nasty Plot Celebi variant. Thunder can be used as Zapdos's STAB if Politoed is a teammate, while Discharge is a good STAB option if your team really appreciates paralysis support. Baton Pass should be used on teams that rely solely on Zapdos to deal with Landorus, as without Baton Pass, Choice Band Tyranitar, a common teammate of Landorus, can easily weaken Zapdos with Pursuit, rendering it unable to deal with Landorus anymore.</p>

<p>Zapdos needs Stealth Rock off the field in order to work properly, so physically defensive Forretress makes a good partner, spinning away hazards while sporting good synergy with Zapdos and covering many physical attackers that Zapdos can't. If Zapdos is used on a rain team, Tentacruel is the best spinner to use with Zapdos, as it can take the boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle and is exceptional at spinning. Hippowdon is one of the best partners for Zapdos, as it handles most physical attackers that Zapdos has troubles with, such as Terrakion, Jirachi, and Tyranitar, while Zapdos checks most of the few physical attackers that can break through Hippowdon, such as Scizor, Breloom, and Gyarados. Furthermore, Hippowdon removes rain, allowing Zapdos to check offensive Starmie and Keldeo instead of easily getting 2HKOed by their STAB attacks. Celebi takes on the strong and potentially rain-boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle, counters SubCM Jirachi with Perish Song, can make for a good check to Terrakion with a physically defensive spread, and can even form a VoltTurn combo with Zapdos.</p>

<p>Using its good bulk and access to Roost and Heat Wave, Zapdos can pull off an offensive set in OU, despite the major competition from Thundurus-T. By virtue of the above, Zapdos can check many dangerous offensive Pokemon that Thundurus-t can't, such as Scizor, Breloom, Landorus, and Tornadus, all the while being very hard to switch into thanks to its good power and coverage. Thunderbolt is the STAB move of the set and deals with Water- and Flying-types, such as Keldeo, Gyarados, and Tornadus. Hidden Power Ice covers the Grass-, Dragon-, and Ground-types that resist or are immune to Thunderbolt, and Heat Wave takes care of the few Grass-types that don't mind Hidden Power Ice, namely Ferrothorn and Celebi, and some other Pokemon that Zapdos checks, such as Lucario and Scizor. Roost allows Zapdos to stick around long enough to check the threats it is supposed to check, counteracts any Stealth Rock damage that Zapdos may incur, and is the main trait that differentiates Zapdos from Thundurus-T.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread gives Zapdos enough Speed to outrun Adamant Lucario, enough bulk to survive an HP Ice from Modest Landorus after Stealth Rock, and Special Attack is maximized to hit as hard as possible. Leftovers is the preferred item to further enhance Zapdos's bulk, help Zapdos focus on attacking instead of healing, and keep Zapdos as healthy as possible when conditions are not in Zapdos's favor (sandstorm or Stealth Rock being up for example). On the other hand, Expert Belt gives Zapdos a respectable power boost that allows it to 2HKO specially defensive variants of Jirachi, Celebi, and Ferrothorn after Stealth Rock (assuming rain is up in Ferrothorn's case) with Heat Wave, OHKO physically defensive variants of Jellicent, Politoed, and Tentacruel after Stealth Rock, always OHKO Thundurus-T after Stealth Rock, and 2HKO offensive Latias and specially defensive Hippowdon (the latter 73.44% of the time with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes). Life Orb could be used for the increased power on Zapdos's STAB, but it cuts into Zapdos's lifespan significantly, taking away one of its main advantages over Thundurus-T. Thunder should be used on rain teams, while Volt Switch can be used as the STAB move of choice to have better momentum control. U-turn is also an option over Roost to gain momentum even against Ground-types and hit Celebi hard, but forgoing Roost is not recommended.</p>

<p>Terrakion breaks through most Pokemon that wall Zapdos, such as Gastrodon, Heatran, Blissey, Chansey, and Kyurem-B, while Zapdos returns the favor by taking care of Breloom and Scizor, two of Terrakion's biggest troubles. Tyranitar and Scizor help against most special walls and can both take care of Latias with Pursuit. Breloom is another excellent physical attacker that beats most of the Pokemon that trouble Zapdos, and has the added benefit of checking Terrakion, one of Zapdos's biggest enemies. Rapid Spin support greatly helps Zapdos do its job of checking dangerous threats and allows Zapdos to focus more on attacking. Starmie and Tentacruel are the best options for rain teams, while Forretress has the best synergy overall with Zapdos, making it the best spinner to use alongside Zapdos outside of rain teams. Forretress can also provide Spikes for Zapdos, helping it get certain KOs while Zapdos discourages any spinner from switching in. If using Forretress, Tyranitar is an exceptional teammate due to its ability to trap and kill Jellicent (which prevents Forretress from spinning and thus hinders Zapdos indirectly), Latios, and Latias (two of Zapdos's checks). Entry hazard support also helps Zapdos obtain certain KOs, such as the 2HKO on Mamoswine with Heat Wave, the 2HKO on physically defensive Hippowdon with Hidden Power Ice, and the 2HKO on Ferrothorn with Heat Wave in rain, all with the help of Stealth Rock or one layer of Spikes. Terrakion and Tyranitar can both set up Stealth Rock and have good synergy with Zapdos. Landorus-T is another excellent user of the move and can also protect Zapdos from Terrakion and help deal with physical attackers in general.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Zapdos can use a SubRoost set with Thunderbolt and Toxic, which when coupled with the PP stalling that Pressure speeds up can have modest success. While it has the potential to be effective, especially with Toxic Spikes support, it loses much of the appeal of Zapdos in OU in the first place such as great coverage, ability to threaten rain teams, and the ability to check Landorus. Damp Rock coupled with Rain Dance and Volt Switch allow Zapdos to become an effective supporter for manual Rain Dance teams. While Agility sets are largely outclassed by Thundurus-T, Zapdos has access to Baton Pass and Roost, meaning it can become a blend of sweeper and tank with an Agility + Roost set, and a blend of sweeper and supporter with an Agility + Baton Pass set. Substitute and Charge Beam can fit in this set, too, if Zapdos runs Baton Pass. Hidden Power Grass can be used on any team that struggles against Gastrodon and Mamoswine, two Pokemon that normally give Zapdos problems, but has no use otherwise. Finally, Tailwind can be used on any offensive set, imitating Agility but helping the whole team, something that Thundurus-T can't do. However, Tailwind is not reliable enough to be worth it most of the time.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Chansey and Blissey are the best counters to any Zapdos set. Hippowdon, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine counter Zapdos, too, as they wall its attacking moves, and have the added benefit of blocking Volt Switch. Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, specially defensive Jirachi, and any variant of Celebi and Jirachi in rain all wall Zapdos as well, and can either set up on it or OHKO it, with the exception of specially defensive Celebi, which can only use Perish Song to force it out. However, except for Chansey, Blissey, and Jirachi, all these Pokemon are crippled by Toxic.</p>

<p>As for checks, anything that either resists Electric-types moves or is specially bulky and neutral to them can check Zapdos well, provided it isn't very susceptible to Zapdos's coverage moves and can hurt Zapdos back. This includes Pokemon such as Latios, specially defensive Heatran, and Terrakion in sand. In addition, if Zapdos lacks either Hidden Power Ice or Heat Wave, Dragon- and Ground-types (examples include Garchomp, Gliscor, and Landorus-T) and Steel- and Grass-types (examples include Ferrothorn, Celebi, and Jirachi) respectively become good checks.</p>

This is still a WIP so I won't critique this much. I did have a slight recommendation I wanted to make.

Can we make Heat Wave the primary slash before Roar in the 4th slot. Roar obviously has its uses, its rather nice for preventing set up, however, without Heat Wave, you are exceptionally vulnerable to Ferrothorn, and this is fairly critical. Heat Wave also gives you an excellent attack against sun teams )like hitting Venusaur), which could potentially be exceptionally annoying.

I'd mention HP Flying in AC of the offensive set (probably not good enough for a slash) because it's just too damn awesome. If Celebi isn't running absolutely max HP / max SpD, you actually have a decent chance of 2HKOing after SR, if you use Leftovers. You are a ton weaker to Thundurus-T, but hey, real men use HP Flying.

How did i forget about Discharge? It should definitely be the first slash on the first set, thx Pocket!

I don't think that SpD Zapdos has the slots for both a real Electric STAB and Volt Switch/U-turn, so i think this combo should be better mentioned in AC. I also left HP Ice alone in the third slot as it is mandatory to deal with Landorus.

What about Roar guys? Am i the only one that finds it really useful? ginga prefers Heat Wave, so i would like to see the opinion of more people on this.

Finally, idk about HP Flying shrang. What would you really use it for? Heat Wave already 2HKOes any Celebi with Expert Belt, while covering much more in general.

Ok as it seems there is too much support for Heat Wave, so i am putting it in the third slot and making it the only option. I am ok with slashing Volt Switch after Discharge too, and moving Tbolt to AC. However, i don't agree at all with moving Roar to AC. Without Roar Zapdos becomes set-up bait for SubCM Jirachi in rain, SubCM Latias, NP Celebi in rain, Terrakion in sand, especially Sub variants, Sub Kyu-B, and Volcarona, all extremely dangerous Pokemon. And if using Toxic instead of HP Ice, then even more dangerous Pokemon can setup on Zapdos, such as Lum DDnite, SubToxic Gliscor, DD Mence, SubSD Garchomp and any SD Garchomp in general. While Toxic is useful to cripple Hippowdon, Tyranitar, and Dragon-types on the switch, both HP Ice and Roar have much more utility in general. For now i am slashing Toxic after Roar, but i think it is AC material.

Oh and after testing SubRoost Zapdos a bit, i have to say that i didn't like it one bit. With the spread i have now it lacked bulk, while with a slower spread it was just defensive Zapdos with Sub over one of the other moves. SubRoost is either AC material on the first set, or OO.

I'm not sure about Discharge. The drop in power is very noticable, as now you never 2HKO standard Tentacruel after Rain + Rain Dish, never OHKO Tornadus-I without SR and you never OHKO 87.5% Keldeo (i.e. 2 SR switch-ins or SR + Sand), all of which Thunderbolt has a decent chance (if not guaranteed) to do. Although not as important, you can also OHKO "defensive" Starmie after Rocks guaranteed and have a good chance to 2HKO SDef-invested Jellicent with Thunderbolt, which Discharge cannot.

I'm not really sure what you are targeting with Discharge either. You ultimately throw Zapdos on a team because it destroys Rain Balance and is decent vs Lando-I, so surely the best Electric-type move is the one that is most effective vs rain. I feel Discharge compromises your match-up vs Rain match-up too much. If theres some new common threat around that absolutely necessitates the use of a weaker, 30% paralysis option that doesn't even OHKO Tornadus-I then fair enough, but nobody has actually said what Discharge is required for, if anything. Theres also the issue of accidentally paralysing something like Jellicent or Tyranitar that you'd rather drop a Toxic on.

In the same vein I'm not a massive fan of Volt Switch either, but I can sort of see the appeal.

I definitely think Roar should be AC. Half the mons you listed that it beats you shoudn't be staying in on anyway, especially Terrakion and Kyurem-B. If anything I actually think Roar opens you up more to stuff like Volcarona. If you are so Volcarona weak that your best answer to it is to stay in with Zapdos and Roar it away, then what happens later when its the last Pokemon and you can't beat it because you don't have Toxic? At least Toxic puts it on a timer so something like Jellicent or Hippowdon (which is probably going to be paired with Zapdos more often than not) become excellent answers.

Baton Pass could probably also get an AC mention on the SDef set too, since a lot of people are using Zapdos as a primary Landorus-I switch-in. Zapdos still gets rocked by CBTar Pursuit even though its not weak to it and Baton Pass basically lets you do the same thing as SDef Celebi. Volt Switch is pretty shoddy at preventing you from getting trapped because you have to be super ballsy and Volt Switch vs the Lando-I in front of you to pull it off. Its probably one of those things that you'd never use unless your team can afford to give-up Toxic or Hidden Power [Ice] on Zapdos, letting you use Tbolt / BP / Roost / Heat Wave. If nothing else its pretty relevant for the current meta and it doesn't look that bad on paper provided you can make-up for the loss of Toxic / coverage elsewhere.

Nitpick, in the intro, you should probably change "Reliable recovery, Volt Switch, Pressure, and Roar are all good qualities for a wall, which is Zapdos's best role in this meta". I know this isn't the actual phrasing you'll use but its weird to refer to only 2 moves as its "good qualities" when they aren't particularly standard aren't even first slash.

However, i don't agree at all with moving Roar to AC. Without Roar Zapdos becomes set-up bait for SubCM Jirachi in rain, SubCM Latias, NP Celebi in rain, Terrakion in sand, especially Sub variants, Sub Kyu-B, and Volcarona, all extremely dangerous Pokemon.

Click to expand...

The issue is that your not staying in on most of these pokemon regardless. Sure, maybe against Celebi and Latias, but against Terrakion, Kyurem-B, and Volcarona, are you seriously going to stay in unless you have no other option (or in Volcaronas case running rain support). Sure, you "CAN" Roar out a Heatran, but in practise its not something I would recommend, the risk vs reward factor is 2 high, so you would really only do it unless you had little option / really desperate / don't need Zapdos etc

after further consideration, penguinx is right that there's not a ton that discharge hits where the 30% para chance means anything, and especially against rain the power drop is extremely noticeable. thus i'm revising my previous suggested set to the one ginga just posted:

I ran the offensive Zapdos set a while back with Volt Switch>Thunderbolt. It's true that it has trouble getting past actual water-types with that, but I found it to be massively useful to mess up stall cores. Basically like Rotom-W that eats ferrothorn alive. I'd at least AC it Imo, although this was some time back so it might not be as good now. It also lets it do stuff to counters like Latias and Kyu-B, while also not forcing something to take a hit to the face.

Could you give Tailwind a bit of love in the AC of Offensive or at least OO? We'd discussed this a while back on IRC; Tailwind is another notable niche Zapdos has over Thund-T, allowing Zapdos to not only clean sun / rain, but also help its team keep up strong offensive pressure.

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[Overview]

<p>Thanks to its unique typing, good overall stats, and interesting movepool, Zapdos manages to hold a definite niche in OU. It is one of the few Pokemon capable of handling Sheer Force Landorus, countering it if Stealth Rock is off the field. In addition, Zapdos havings Roost to take repeated assaults, and in addition can take on other threatening special sweepers, such as Volcarona (provided it is raining) and Tornadus (the former in rain). Furthermore, the combination of Zapdos's eElectric typing, good coverage, Roost, and useful resistances allow it to threaten the ubiquitous rain offense teams and put big pressure to them. However, Zapdos has many flaws that prevent it from being a prevalent threat in OU. In the offensive department, Zapdos is mostly outclassed by Thundurus-T, which is slhas hightly faster, stronger, has Speed and Special Attack, a better ability, and access to Nasty Plot. The only chance that Zapdos has of being used offensively is to take advantage of its better bulk and access to Heat Wave and Roost over Thundurus-T. In the defensive department, Zapdos's biggest flaw is its Stealth Rock weakness, which hampers its overall performance and makes it much more team -reliant. Finally, even though Zapdos has great all-around stats, its special bulk is kind ofsomewhat lacking in comparison to OU's premiere special walls, such as Celebi, Jirachi, and Heatran.</p>

<p>Zapdos is a decent special wall that deals with a few key threats that many teams struggle against, namely Sheer Force Landorus and Tornadus. Also, tThanks to its good coverage and good match-up against most Pokemon found on rain teams, Zapdos is also a good anti-rain Pokemon. Thunderbolt is a strong, reliable STAB move whichthat deals with the Water-types that are everywhere and has great neutral coverage, while Volt Switch enables Zapdos to control the pace of the game better and makes it a better pivot. Roost keeps Zapdos healthy throughout the game, helps alleviate the Stealth Rock weakness, and lets Zapdos PP stall some dangerous moves when combined with Pressure. Heat Wave breaks through Ferrothorn and lets Zapdos dent or OHKO the various Steel-types that it checks, such as Scizor and Magnezone. Heat Wave also OHKOes Breloom, a Pokemon that Zapdos checks very well. Hidden Power Ice deals with Landorus and Dragon-types and gives to Zapdos great neutral coverage when combined with its Electric STAB. On the other hand, Toxic cripples many of the common switch-ins to Zapdos, namely Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The Speed EVs allow Zapdos to outspeed Adamant Breloom, in order to OHKO it with Heat Wave before it has a chance to act. Roar is an option on Zapdos that makes it a pretty good check to boosting special attackers such as SubCM Jirachi, CM Latias, and Nasty Plot + Baton Pass Celebi. Thunder can be used as Zapdos's STAB if Politoed is used as a teammate, while Discharge is another STAB option that is moderately powerful and has a good chance to paralyze chancethe opponent. Do note, however, that Thunderbolt's extra power is usually more appreciated than the added paralysis chance of Discharge, meaning that Discharge should only be used on teams that really appreciate paralysis support. Baton Pass should be used on teams that rely solely on Zapdos to deal with Landorus, as Choice Band Tyranitar, a common teammate of Landorus, would easily weaken Zapdos to the point that is unable to deal with Landorus anymore.</p>

<p>The number one kind of support that Zapdos needs is Rapid Spin, because Zapdos needs Stealth Rock off the field in order to work properly. Forretress has the best synergy out of all spinners with Zapdos and can covers the physical side of the spectrumattackers. If beingZapdos is used on a rain team, Tentacruel is the best spinner to use with Zapdos, as it can take the boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle and is exceptional at spinning. Hippowdon is one of the best partners to Zapdos, as it handles most physical attackers that Zapdos has troubles with, such as Terrakion, Jirachi, and Tyranitar, while Zapdos checks most of the few physical attackers that can break through Hippowdon, such as Scizor, Breloom, and Gyarados. Furthermore, Hippowdon summons sandstorm, which allows Zapdos to deal with special attackers such as offensive Starmie and Keldeo much more easierly, allowing it to actually check them instead of easily getting 2HKOed by their STAB attacks. Celebi takes on the strong and potentially rain-boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle, counters SubCM Jirachi with Perish Song, can make for a good check to Terrakion with a physically defensive spread, and forms a VoltTurn combo with Zapdos, provided that Zapdos has Volt Switch.</p>

<p>Using its good bulk and access to Roost and Heat Wave, Zapdos manages to pull effectively run an offensive set in OU, despite the major competition from Thundurus-T. By virtue of the above, Zapdos can check many dangerous offensive Pokemon that Thundurus-t can't, such as Scizor, Breloom, Landorus, and Tornadus, all the while being very hard to switch into thanks to its good power and coverage. Thunderbolt is the STAB move of the set and deals with Water- and Flying-types, such as Keldeo, Gyarados, and Tornadus. Hidden Power Ice covers the Grass-, Dragon-, and Ground-types that resist or are immune to Thunderbolt, and Heat Wave takes care of the few Grass-types that don't mind Hidden Power Ice, namely Ferrothorn and Celebi, and some other Pokemon such as Lucario, Scizor, and Mamoswine, all Pokemon that Zapdos can check. Roost allows Zapdos to stick around long enough to check the threats it is supposed, to check, counteracts any Stealth Rock damage that Zapdos may receive, and is the main trait that differentiates Zapdos from Thundurus-T.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread gives Zapdos enough Speed to outrun Adamant Lucario, enough bulk to survive an HP Ice from Modest Landorus after Stealth Rock, and heavy investment in Special Attack is maxed to hit as hard as possible. Leftovers is the preferred item to further enhance Zapdos's bulk, helps Zapdos focus on attacking instead of healing, and keeps Zapdos as healthy as possible when the conditions are not in Zapdos's favor (sandstorm or Stealth Rock being up for example). On the other hand, Expert Belt gives Zapdos a respectable power boost that allows it to 2HKO specially defensive variants of Jirachi, Celebi, and Ferrothorn after Stealth Rock (assuming rain is up for Ferrothorn's case) with Heat Wave, OHKO max HP Jellicent, max HP Politoed, and max HP Tentacruel after Stealth Rock, and always OHKO Thundurus-T after Stealth Rock, and 2HKO offensive Latias and specially defensive Hippowdon (the latter 73.44% of the time with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes and 73.44% of the time). Life Orb could be used for the increased power on Zapdos's STAB, but it cuts down on Zapdos's lifespan significantly, taking away one of the main advantages of Zapdos over Thundurus-T. Thunder should be used on rain teams, while Volt Switch can be used as the STAB move of choice to have better momentum control. U-turn is also an option over Roost, to gain momentum even against Ground-types and hit Celebi hard, but usually forgoing Roost is usually not recommended.</p>

<p>Terrakion breaks through most Pokemon that can wall Zapdos, such as Gastrodon, Heatran, Blissey, Chansey, and Kyurem-B, while Zapdos repayturns the favor by taking care of Breloom and Scizor, two of Terrakion's biggest troubles. Tyranitar and Scizor help against most special walls and can both take care of Latias with Pursuit. Breloom is another excellent physical attacker that beats most of the Pokemon that trouble Zapdos, and has the added benefit of checking Terrakion, one of Zapdos's biggest enemies. Rapid Spin support greatly helps Zapdos do its job of checking dangerous threats and allows Zapdos to focus more on attacking. Starmie and Tentacruel are the best options for rain teams, while Forretress has the best synergy overall with Zapdos, making it the best spinner to use alongside Zapdos outside of rain teams. If using Forretress, Tyranitar is an exceptional teammate due to its ability to trap and kill Jellicent (which prevents Forretress from spinning and thus hinders Zapdos indirectly), Latios, and Latias, thus (removing two of Zapdos's checks). Entry hazard support also helps Zapdos obtain certain KOs, such as the 2HKO on Mamoswine with Heat Wave, the 2HKO on physically defensive Hippowdon with Hidden Power Ice, and the 2HKO on Ferrothorn with Heat Wave in rain, all with the help of Stealth Rock or one layer of Spikes. Terrakion and Tyranitar can both set up Stealth Rock and so can Tyranitar, and both have goosd synergy with Zapdos. Landorus-T is another excelletnt user of the move and can also protect Zapdos from Terrakion and help deal with physical attackers in general. Lastly, Forretress can provide Spikes, insurance against physical threats, and Rapid Spin support, making for a very useful teammate.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Zapdos can use a SubRoost set with Thunderbolt and Toxic as the other moves, which when coupled with the PP stalling that Pressure allows can have modest success. While it has the potential to be effective, especially with Toxic Spikes support, it loses many of the appealreasons to use Zapdos in OU in the first handplace such as great coverage, ability to threaten rain teams, and the ability to check Landorus. Damp Rock coupled with Rain Dance and Volt Switch allow Zapdos to become an effective supporter for manual Rain Dance teams. While Agility sets are largely outclassed by Thundurus-T, Zapdos has Roost and Baton Pass over Thundurus-T, meaning it can become a blend of sweeper and supporter or sweeper and tank with a set of Agility / Baton Pass or Roost / Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice or Heat Wave. Substitute and Charge Beam can fit in this set, too, if Zapdos goes withruns Baton Pass. Hidden Power Grass can be used on any team that struggles against Gastrodon and Mamoswine, two Pokemon that otherwisenormally counter Zapdos, but has no use otherwise. Finally, Tailwind can be used on any offensive set, imitating Agility but helping the whole team, something that Thundurus-T can't do. However, Tailwind is not reliable enough to be worth it most of the time.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Chansey and Blissey are the best counters to any Zapdos set. Hippowdon, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine counter Zapdos, too, as they wall its attacking moves and have the advantage of blocking Volt Switch. Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, specially defensive Jirachi, and any variant of Celebi and Jirachi in rain, all wall Zapdos as well, and can either set up on it or OHKO it, with the exception of specially defensive Celebi, which can only use Perish Song to force it out. However, all those Pokemon except for Chansey, Blissey, and Jirachi, are crippled by Toxic.</p>

<p>As for checks, everything that either resists or has goodElectric-types moves or is specially bulky and is neutral to Electric-type moves,them can check Zapdos well, provided it is non't very susceptible to Zapdos's coverage moves, and can hurt Zapdos back is a good check. This includes Pokemon such as Latios, specially defensive Heatran, and Terrakion in sand. In addition, if Zapdos lacks either HP Ice or Heat Wave, Dragon- and Ground-types (examples include Garchomp, Gliscor, and Landorus-T) and Steel- and Grass-types (examples include Ferrothorn, Celebi, and Jirachi) respectively become good checks.</p>

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[Overview]

<p>Thanks to its unique typing, good overall stats, and interesting movepool, Zapdos manages to hold a definite niche in OU. It is one of the few Pokemon capable of handling Sheer Force Landorus, countering it if Stealth Rock is off the field. In addition, Zapdos has Roost to take repeated assaults, and can take on other threatening special sweepers, such as Volcarona (provided it is raining) and Tornadus. Furthermore, the combination of Zapdos's Electric typing, good coverage, Roost, and useful resistances allow it to threaten the ubiquitous rain offense teams and put big pressure to them. However, Zapdos has many flaws that prevent it from being a prevalent threat in OU. In the offensive department, Zapdos is mostly outclassed by Thundurus-T, which is has higher Speed and Special Attack, a better ability, and access to Nasty Plot. The only chance that Zapdos has of being used offensively is to take advantage of its better bulk and access to Heat Wave and Roost. In the defensive department, Zapdos's biggest flaw is its Stealth Rock weakness, which hampers its overall performance and makes it much more team-reliant. Finally, even though Zapdos has great all-around stats, its special bulk is somewhat lacking in comparison to OU's premier special walls, such as Celebi, Jirachi, and Heatran.</p>

<p>Zapdos is a decent special wall that deals with a few key threats that many teams struggle against, namely Sheer Force Landorus and Tornadus. Thanks to its good coverage and good match-up against most Pokemon found on rain teams, Zapdos is also a good anti-rain Pokemon. Thunderbolt is a strong, reliable STAB move that deals with the Water-types that are everywhere and has great neutral coverage, while Volt Switch enables Zapdos to control the pace of the game better and makes it a better pivot. Roost keeps Zapdos healthy throughout the game, helps alleviate the Stealth Rock weakness, and lets Zapdos PP stall some dangerous moves when combined with Pressure. Heat Wave breaks through Ferrothorn and lets Zapdos dent or OHKO the various Steel-types that it checks, such as Scizor and Magnezone. Heat Wave also OHKOes Breloom, a Pokemon that Zapdos checks very well. Hidden Power Ice deals with Landorus and Dragon-types and gives Zapdos great neutral coverage when combined with its Electric STAB. On the other hand, Toxic cripples many of the common switch-ins to Zapdos, namely Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The Speed EVs allow Zapdos to outspeed Adamant Breloom in order to OHKO it with Heat Wave before it has a chance to act. Roar is an option on Zapdos that makes it a pretty good check to boosting special attackers such as SubCM Jirachi, CM Latias, and Nasty Plot + Baton Pass Celebi. Thunder can be used as Zapdos's STAB if Politoed is used as a teammate, while Discharge is another STAB option that is moderately powerful and has a good chance to paralyze the opponent. Do note, however, that Thunderbolt's extra power is usually more appreciated than the added paralysis chance of Discharge, meaning that Discharge should only be used on teams that really appreciate paralysis support. Baton Pass should be used on teams that rely solely on Zapdos to deal with Landorus, as Choice Band Tyranitar, a common teammate of Landorus, would easily weaken Zapdos to the point that is unable to deal with Landorus anymore.</p>

<p>The number one support that Zapdos needs is Rapid Spin, because Zapdos needs Stealth Rock off the field in order to work properly. Forretress has the best synergy out of all spinners with Zapdos and can cover physical attackers. If Zapdos is used on a rain team, Tentacruel is the best spinner to use with Zapdos, as it can take the boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle and is exceptional at spinning. Hippowdon is one of the best partners to Zapdos, as it handles most physical attackers that Zapdos has troubles with, such as Terrakion, Jirachi, and Tyranitar, while Zapdos checks most of the few physical attackers that can break through Hippowdon, such as Scizor, Breloom, and Gyarados. Furthermore, Hippowdon summons sandstorm, which allows Zapdos to deal with special attackers such as offensive Starmie and Keldeo much more easily, allowing it to actually check them instead of easily getting 2HKOed by their STAB attacks. Celebi takes on the strong and potentially rain-boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle, counters SubCM Jirachi with Perish Song, can make for a good check to Terrakion with a physically defensive spread, and forms a VoltTurn combo with Zapdos, provided that Zapdos has Volt Switch.</p>

<p>Using its good bulk and access to Roost and Heat Wave, Zapdos manages to effectively run an offensive set in OU, despite the major competition from Thundurus-T. By virtue of the above, Zapdos can check many dangerous offensive Pokemon that Thundurus-t can't, such as Scizor, Breloom, Landorus, and Tornadus, all the while being very hard to switch into thanks to its good power and coverage. Thunderbolt is the STAB move of the set and deals with Water- and Flying-types, such as Keldeo, Gyarados, and Tornadus. Hidden Power Ice covers the Grass-, Dragon-, and Ground-types that resist or are immune to Thunderbolt, and Heat Wave takes care of the few Grass-types that don't mind Hidden Power Ice, namely Ferrothorn and Celebi, and some other Pokemon such as Lucario, Scizor, and Mamoswine, all Pokemon that Zapdos can check. Roost allows Zapdos to stick around long enough to check the threats it is supposed to check, counteracts any Stealth Rock damage that Zapdos may receive, and is the main trait that differentiates Zapdos from Thundurus-T.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread gives Zapdos enough Speed to outrun Adamant Lucario, enough bulk to survive an HP Ice from Modest Landorus after Stealth Rock, and heavy investment in Special Attack to hit as hard as possible. Leftovers is the preferred item to further enhance Zapdos's bulk, helps Zapdos focus on attacking instead of healing, and keeps Zapdos as healthy as possible when the conditions are not in Zapdos's favor (sandstorm or Stealth Rock being up for example). On the other hand, Expert Belt gives Zapdos a respectable power boost that allows it to 2HKO specially defensive variants of Jirachi, Celebi, and Ferrothorn after Stealth Rock (assuming rain is up for Ferrothorn's case) with Heat Wave, OHKO max HP Jellicent, max HP Politoed, and max HP Tentacruel after Stealth Rock, always OHKO Thundurus-T after Stealth Rock, and 2HKO offensive Latias and specially defensive Hippowdon (the latter 73.44% of the time with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes). Life Orb could be used for the increased power on Zapdos's STAB, but it cuts down on Zapdos's lifespan significantly, taking away one of the main advantages of Zapdos over Thundurus-T. Thunder should be used on rain teams, while Volt Switch can be used as the STAB move of choice to have better momentum control. U-turn is also an option over Roost to gain momentum even against Ground-types and hit Celebi hard, but forgoing Roost is usually not recommended.</p>

<p>Terrakion breaks through most Pokemon that can wall Zapdos, such as Gastrodon, Heatran, Blissey, Chansey, and Kyurem-B, while Zapdos returns the favor by taking care of Breloom and Scizor, two of Terrakion's biggest troubles. Tyranitar and Scizor help against most special walls and can both take care of Latias with Pursuit. Breloom is another excellent physical attacker that beats most of the Pokemon that trouble Zapdos, and has the added benefit of checking Terrakion, one of Zapdos's biggest enemies. Rapid Spin support greatly helps Zapdos do its job of checking dangerous threats and allows Zapdos to focus more on attacking. Starmie and Tentacruel are the best options for rain teams, while Forretress has the best synergy overall with Zapdos, making it the best spinner to use alongside Zapdos outside of rain teams. If using Forretress, Tyranitar is an exceptional teammate due to its ability to trap and kill Jellicent (which prevents Forretress from spinning and thus hinders Zapdos indirectly), Latios, and Latias, thus removing two of Zapdos's checks. Entry hazard support also helps Zapdos obtain certain KOs, such as the 2HKO on Mamoswine with Heat Wave, the 2HKO on physically defensive Hippowdon with Hidden Power Ice, and the 2HKO on Ferrothorn with Heat Wave in rain, all with the help of Stealth Rock or one layer of Spikes. Terrakion and Tyranitar can both set up Stealth Rock and have good synergy with Zapdos. Landorus-T is another excellent user of the move and can also protect Zapdos from Terrakion and help deal with physical attackers in general. Lastly, Forretress can provide Spikes, insurance against physical threats, and Rapid Spin support, making for a very useful teammate.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Zapdos can use a SubRoost set with Thunderbolt and Toxic as the other moves, which when coupled with the PP stalling that Pressure allows can have modest success. While it has the potential to be effective, especially with Toxic Spikes support, it loses many of the reasons to use Zapdos in OU in the first place such as great coverage, ability to threaten rain teams, and the ability to check Landorus. Damp Rock coupled with Rain Dance and Volt Switch allow Zapdos to become an effective supporter for manual Rain Dance teams. While Agility sets are largely outclassed by Thundurus-T, Zapdos has Roost and Baton Pass over Thundurus-T, meaning it can become a blend of sweeper and supporter or sweeper and tank with a set of Agility / Baton Pass or Roost / Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice or Heat Wave. Substitute and Charge Beam can fit in this set, too, if Zapdos runs Baton Pass. Hidden Power Grass can be used on any team that struggles against Gastrodon and Mamoswine, two Pokemon that normally counter Zapdos, but has no use otherwise. Finally, Tailwind can be used on any offensive set, imitating Agility but helping the whole team, something that Thundurus-T can't do. However, Tailwind is not reliable enough to be worth it most of the time.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Chansey and Blissey are the best counters to any Zapdos set. Hippowdon, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine counter Zapdos, too, as they wall its attacking moves and have the advantage of blocking Volt Switch. Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, specially defensive Jirachi, and any variant of Celebi and Jirachi in rain all wall Zapdos as well, and can either set up on it or OHKO it, with the exception of specially defensive Celebi, which can only use Perish Song to force it out. However, all those Pokemon except for Chansey, Blissey, and Jirachi are crippled by Toxic.</p>

<p>As for checks, everything that either resists Electric-types moves or is specially bulky and neutral to them can check Zapdos well, provided it isn't very susceptible to Zapdos's coverage moves and can hurt Zapdos back. This includes Pokemon such as Latios, specially defensive Heatran, and Terrakion in sand. In addition, if Zapdos lacks either HP Ice or Heat Wave, Dragon- and Ground-types (examples include Garchomp, Gliscor, and Landorus-T) and Steel- and Grass-types (examples include Ferrothorn, Celebi, and Jirachi) respectively become good checks.</p>

Non-grammatical note: you mention Heat Wave as handling Mamoswine in the offensive set's AC, but Mamoswine is actually neutral to Heat Wave, only 2HKOed by it, and can outspeed and OHKO Zapdos with Icicle Crash provided it is Jolly. This may deserve clarification, but if you intended Heat Wave just to be used to hit Mamoswine on the switch, then I guess that's fine.

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[Overview]

<p>Thanks to its Zapdos's unique typing, good overall stats, and interesting movepool, (RC) Zapdos manages to holdput it in a definite niche. It is one of the few Pokemon capable of handling Sheer Force Landorus, countering it if Stealth Rock is off the field. In addition, Zapdos has Roost to take repeated assaults, and can take on other threatening special sweepers, such as Volcarona (provided it is raining) and Tornadus. Furthermore, the combination of Zapdos's Electric typing, good coverage, Roost, and useful resistances allow it to threaten the ubiquitous rain offense teams and put big pressure to on them. (Consider collapsing "threaten...teams" and "put...them", as they seem somewhat redundant.) However, Zapdos has many flaws that prevent it from being a prevalent threat in OU. In the offensive department Offensively, (AC) Zapdos is mostly outclassed by usually worse than Thundurus-T, which has higher Speed and Special Attack, a better ability, and access to Nasty Plot. The only chance that Zapdos has of being used offensively is to take advantage of its better bulk and access to Heat Wave and Roost. Zapdos is an appropriate offensive choice only if you take advantage of its better bulk and access to Heat Wave and Roost. (I guess you could add "or if pairing it with Thundurus-T" to this if that's a good idea but I'm guessing it probably isn't. You be the judge.) In the defensive department, Zapdos's biggest flaw is its Stealth Rock weakness, which hampers its overall performance and makes it much more team reliant. On the other hand, Stealth Rock hampers Zapdos as a wall, making defensive sets reliant on Rapid Spin. (I assume that by "team reliant", you mean "reliant on Rapid Spin". If this is not what you mean, make a different change, but "team reliant" is too vague, and "much more" also doesn't make sense there.) Finally, even though Zapdos has great all-around stats, its special bulk is somewhat lacking in comparison toOU's premiere special walls, such as Celebi, Jirachi, and Heatran.</p>

<p>Zapdos is a decent special wall that deals with a few key threats that many teams struggle against, namely Sheer Force Landorus and Tornadus. Thanks to its good coverage and good favorable match-up against most Pokemon found on rain teams, Zapdos is a good anti-rain Pokemon. Electric moves have great neutral coverage in OU, while hitting the the Water-types that are everywhere. Thunderbolt is a strong, reliable STAB move strong and reliable, (AC) that deals with the Water-types that are everywhere and has great neutral coverage while Volt Switch enables Zapdos to control the pace of the game better and makes it a better pivot. Roost keeps Zapdos healthy throughout the game, helps alleviate the its Stealth Rock weakness, and lets Zapdos PP stall some dangerous moves when combined with Pressure. Heat Wave breaks through Ferrothorn and lets Zapdos dent or OHKO the various Steel-types that it checks, such as Scizor, (AC) Ferrothorn and Magnezone. Heat Wave also OHKOes Breloom, a Pokemon that Zapdos checks very well. Hidden Power Ice deals with Landorus and Dragon-types and gives Zapdos great neutral coverage when combined with its Electric STAB. On the other hand, Toxic cripples many of the common switch-ins to Zapdos, namely Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The Speed EVs allow Zapdos to outspeed Adamant Breloom, in order to OHKO it with Heat Wave before it has a chance to act. Roar is an option on Zapdos that makes it a pretty good check to boosting special attackers such as SubCM Jirachi, CM Latias, and Nasty Plot + Baton Pass Celebi. (After all you don't have to run BP.) Thunder can be used as Zapdos's STAB if Politoed is used as a teammate while Discharge is another a good STAB option that is moderately powerful and has a good chance to paralyze the opponent. Do note however, that Thunderbolt's extra power is usually more appreciated than the added paralysis chance of Discharge, meaning that Discharge should only be used on teams that if your team really appreciate appreciates paralysis support. Baton Pass should be used on teams that rely solely on Zapdos to deal with Landorus, as without Baton Pass, Choice Band Tyranitar, a common teammate of Landorus, would easily weaken Zapdos to the point that iscan easily weaken Zapdos with Pursuit, rendering it unable to deal with Landorus anymore.</p>

<p>The number one support that Zapdos needs is Rapid Spin, because Zapdos needs Stealth Rock off the field in order to work properly. Forretress has the best synergy out of all spinners with Zapdos and can cover physical attackers. Zapdos needs Stealth Rock off the field in order to work properly, so Physically Defensive Forretress makes a good partner, spinning away hazards while sporting good synergy with Zapdos. If Zapdos is used on a rain team, Tentacruel is the best spinner to use with Zapdos, as it can take the boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle and is exceptional at spinning. Hippowdon is one of the best partners to for Zapdos, as it handles most physical attackers that Zapdos has troubles with, such as Terrakion, Jirachi, and Tyranitar, while Zapdos checks most of the few physical attackers that can break through Hippowdon, such as Scizor, Breloom, and Gyarados. Furthermore, Hippowdon summons sandstorm removes rain, which allows Zapdos to deal with special attackers such as offensive Starmie and Keldeo much more easily, allowing it toactually checkthem Zapdos to check offensive Starmie and Keldeo instead of easily getting 2HKOed by their STAB attacks. Celebi takes on the strong and potentially rain-boosted Water-type attacks that Zapdos can't handle, counters SubCM Jirachi with Perish Song, can make for a good check to Terrakion with a physically defensive spread, and forms can even form a VoltTurn combo with Zapdos, (AC) provided that Zapdos has Volt Switch.</p>

<p>Using its good bulk and access to Roost and Heat Wave, Zapdos manages to effectively run can pull off an offensive set in OU, despite the major competition from Thundurus-T. By virtue of the above, Zapdos can check many dangerous offensive Pokemon that Thundurus-t can't, such as Scizor, Breloom, Landorus, and Tornadus, all the while being very hard to switch into thanks to its good power and coverage. Thunderbolt is the STAB move of the set and deals with Water- and Flying-types, such as Keldeo, Gyarados, and Tornadus. Hidden Power Ice covers the Grass-, Dragon-, and Ground-types that resist or are immune to Thunderbolt and Heat Wave takes care of the few Grass-types that don't mind Hidden Power Ice, namely Ferrothorn and Celebi, and some other Pokemon such as Lucario, Scizor, and Mamoswine, all Pokemon that Zapdos can check that Zapdos checks, such as Lucario and Scizor. (Heat Wave 2HKOs Mamoswine, Icicle Crash OHKOs Zapdos, and Ice Shard outspeeds and 2HKOs it and doesn't care about Roost, so I wouldn't call Zapdos a check.) Roost allows Zapdos to stick around long enough to check the threats it is supposed to check, counteract any Stealth Rock damage that Zapdos may receive incur, and is the main trait that differentiates Zapdos from Thundurus-T.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread gives Zapdos enough Speed to outrun Adamant Lucario, enough bulk to survive an HP Ice from Modest Landorus after Stealth Rock, and heavy investment in plenty of Special Attack to hit as hard as possible. Leftovers is the preferred item to further enhance Zapdos's bulk, helps Zapdos focus on attacking instead of healing, and keeps Zapdos as healthy as possible when the conditions are not in Zapdos's favor (sandstorm or Stealth Rock being up for example). On the other hand, Expert Belt gives Zapdos a respectable power boost that allows it to 2HKO specially defensive variants of Jirachi, Celebi, and Ferrothorn after Stealth Rock (assuming rain is up for in Ferrothorn's case) with Heat Wave, OHKO max HP defensive Jellicent, max HP Politoed, and max HP Tentacruel after physically defensive variants of Jellicent, Politoed and Tentacruel after Stealth Rock, always OHKO Thundurus-T after Stealth Rock, and 2HKO offensive Latias and specially defensive Hippowdon (the latter 73.44% of the time with Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes). Life Orb could be used for the increased power on Zapdos's STAB but cuts down on into Zapdos's lifespan significantly, (RC) taking away one of the main advantages of Zapdos over Thundurus-T. Thundurus-T usually does better as a Life Orb attacker. Thunder should be used on rain teams while Volt Switch can be used as the STAB move of choice to have better momentum control. U-turn is also an option over Roost, to gain momentum even against Ground-types and hit Celebi hard, but forgoing Roost is usually not recommended.</p>

<p>Terrakion breaks through most Pokemon that can wall Zapdos, such as Gastrodon, Heatran, Blissey, Chansey, and Kyurem-B, while Zapdos returns the favor by taking care of Breloom and Scizor, two of Terrakion's biggest troubles. Tyranitar and Scizor help against most special walls and can both take care of Latias with Pursuit. Breloom is another excellent physical attacker that beats most of the Pokemon that trouble Zapdos, and has the added benefit of checking Terrakion, one of Zapdos's biggest enemies. Rapid Spin support greatly helps Zapdos do its job of checking dangerous threats and allows Zapdos to focus more on attacking. Starmie and Tentacruel are the best options for rain teams, while Forretress has the best synergy overall with Zapdos, making it the best spinner to use alongside Zapdos outside of rain teams. If using Forretress, Tyranitar is an exceptional teammate due to its ability to since it can trap and kill Jellicent (which prevents Forretress from spinning and thus hinders Zapdos indirectly) Latios, and Latias thus removing two of Zapdos's checks (two of Zapdos's checks). Entry hazard support also helps Zapdos obtain certain KOs, such as the 2HKO on Mamoswine with Heat Wave, the 2HKO on physically defensive Hippowdon with Hidden Power Ice, and the 2HKO on Ferrothorn with Heat Wave in rain, all with the help of Stealth Rock or one layer of Spikes. Terrakion and Tyranitar can both setup Stealth Rock and have good synergy with Zapdos. Landorus-T is another excellent user of the move and can also protect Zapdos from Terrakion and help deal with physical attackers in general. Lastly, Forretress can provide Spikes, insurance against physical threats, and Rapid Spin support, making for a very useful teammate. (You already mentioned this guy.)</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Zapdos can use a SubRoost set with Thunderbolt and Toxic as the other moves, which when coupled with the PP stalling that Pressure allows speeds up can have modest success. While it has the potential to be effective, especially with Toxic Spikes support,(either keep this or change your other move suggestion to something outside of Toxic) it loses many of the reasons to use much of the appeal of Zapdos in OU in the first place such as great coverage, ability to threaten rain teams, and the ability to check Landorus. Damp Rock coupled with Rain Dance and Volt Switch allow Zapdos to become an effective supporter for manual Rain Dance teams. While Agility sets are largely outclassed by Thundurus-T, Zapdos has Roost and Baton Pass over Thundurus-T, meaning it can become a blend of sweeper and supporter or sweeper and tank with a set of Agility / Baton Pass or Roost / Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice or Heat Wave blend of sweeper and tank with an Agility set, and even use Baton Pass with this to support the team. Substitute and Charge Beam can fit in this set, too, if Zapdos runs Baton Pass. Hidden Power Grass can be used on any team that struggles against Gastrodon and Mamoswine, two Pokemon that normally counter Zapdos give Zapdos problems, (I wouldn't say Mamo is a Zapdos counter) but has no use otherwise. Finally, Tailwind can be used on any offensive set, imitating Agility but helping the whole team, something that Thundurus-T can't do. However, Tailwind is not reliable enough to be worth it most of the time.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Chansey and Blissey are the best counters to any Zapdos set. Hippowdon, Gastrodon, and Mamoswine counter Zapdos too, as they wall its attacking moves and have the advantage of blocking blocksVolt Switch. Tyranitar, Latias, Kyurem-B, specially defensive Jirachi, and any variant of Celebi and Jirachi in rain, all wall Zapdos as well, and can either setup set up on it or OHKO it, with the exception of specially defensive Celebi, which can only use Perish Song to force it out. However, all those Pokemon except for Chansey, Blissey, and Jirachi, all these Pokemon are crippled by Toxic.</p>

<p>As for checks, everything anything that either resists Electric-types moves or is specially bulky and neutral to them can check Zapdos well, provided it isn't very susceptible to Zapdos's coverage moves and can hurt Zapdos back. This includes Pokemon such as Latios, specially defensive Heatran, and Terrakion in sand. In addition, if Zapdos lacks either HP Ice or Heat Wave, Dragon- and Ground-types (examples include Garchomp, Gliscor, and Landorus-T) and Steel- and Grass-types (examples include Ferrothorn, Celebi, and Jirachi) respectively become good checks.

EDIT: Oh my god I am an idiot for some reason I thought Woodchuck's check was implemented :C.

EDIT 2: Okay, so I managed to change my check so that instead of editing over alexwolf's original article, it edited over Woodchuck's edit of the article, which is okay according to the Grammatic Boogaloo Queue post. So you should be good to go alexwolf!

Added both checks! Relaunched there were some subjective changes of yours that i didn't add after talking with other GP members. Also:

fat Overview said:

(I assume that by "team reliant", you mean "reliant on Rapid Spin". If this is not what you mean, make a different change, but "team reliant" is too vague, and "much more" also doesn't make sense there.)

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After talking it over in #grammar, we decided that team reliant is good enough to describe Zapdos's reliance to rapid spin support. Also changed ''much more'' to ''very'' to fix the problem that you mentioned.

fat OO said:

especially with Toxic Spikes support,(either keep this or change your other move suggestion to something outside of Toxic)

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T-Spikes support are useful even if you use Toxic, as they allow you avoid spending one turn to use Toxic and to immediately start SubRoosting.

fat Checks and Counters said:

have the advantage of blocking blocksVolt Switch

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I mentioned that they have the advantage of blocking, because they are the only counters to Zapdos that can do this, and i wanted to highlight this.